That's gonna shake some faith, and cause some apostasy, huh?
I'm not Catholic. But I'm a Christian. And I'm good with the pope's directive.
Consider... way back in the day, just after God created the Earth,
and then stuck Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden... He gave them some instructions. He told Adam that he could subdue the Earth, and have "dominion" over all the other creatures, plants, etc. He also instructed Adam and Eve to "dress and keep" the Garden.(If you want to get out your book, check in Genesis 1 and 2.)
Now, I grant you that it's subject to interpretation. Some might believe that Adam had God's permission to rape the planet, and to take whatever he could use, without regard to the consequences. But I see it as saying:
1) Adam and Eve, you have been given this earth, and everything on it, by a loving God. But realize that:
2) You have the responsibility to care for it, to "replenish" it, and to be good stewards.
In my opinion, a good Christian will lovingly care for this planet, and will do everything in his power to leave the place at least as nice as he found it, for future generations. And the Pope's message is right in line with that.
It's even more important now - we have 6 BILLION little Adams and Eves running around on the planet, and their pollution stretches a lot farther than the original Adam and Eve coulda.
WWJD?
What would Jesus drive? I'm guessing if He chose a Ford Extinction, it would be because He's traveling with all 12 apostles! (If all 12 or 16 seats are occupied, it would actually be quite an efficient way to travel! If only the driver's seat is occupied... um, I think not.) And I bet Jesus has NO problem with bikes!
(-;
(Here's a related observation... why is it that those who identify themselves as "conservative" are, as a rule, less concerned about conservation of our resources, and preserving our environment, than "not-so-conservative" people profess to be?)
2 comments:
"profess" is the key word in your parenthetical paragraph. “conservatives” tend to be more realistic, and less prone to taking their personal jet to Japan to tell everyone else in the world to do as they say, not as they do. They tend to let people make their own decisions about the property that they own, than to desire to take control of everyone’s property for the greater good.
Having said that though, there are certainly exceptions on both sides. In the current 2 party system, each side has to take the extreme opposite position of the other, which doesn’t tend to be good, but hopefully ends up in an intelligent compromise (and sometimes it even works that way).
I tend to agree with you about being stewards of this God-given earth. It was given to us, and we need to take care of it. We are not some infestation that is bad for the earth; it belongs to us, not the other way around. But it is the only one we have, and we had better take good care of it.
Hi, Josh.
You are right... the reason I added the word "profess" is because there are a LOT of Algore disciples who talk the talk, but do NOTHING beyond that. (Algore himself would be hard-pressed to demonstrate anything he's doing to help the environment, beyond talking.)
Thanks for your response... we seem to be in total agreement.
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